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Friday, April 4, 2014

So a month back I woke up to 12 comments waiting to be
published on my blog. I did not approve them to be published because quite frankly it
was a rant. I did not see the point in encouraging someone’s bad mood or false
perceptions. I did however take some time to think about what he had to say. I
am almost sure this person is a ‘he’. I wanted to go over my blog posts to make sure that my intentions
were understood and that I had not actually offended someone. After speaking to
a few people including friends and fellow teachers, I was advised that it would
be in my best interest to not respond to this commentator. I decided to let it
go. Last week, I woke up to 3 more comments where this person accused me of being unfair for not publishing
his comments and not addressing his accusations. And so here is my response. It
will be my only response. Everything in blue and quotes are his exact words.

1."Ms Fari,
If there is any a bit of honesty in yourself, the right thing to do is
to publish my comments for all the visitors of your blog to see and
judge for themselves.
I understand that this is your blog , and I am not "forced" to visit and
read your articles nor that you are obliged to answer to my
allegations.
The way I see it, some people like you simply do not have the courage
and honesty when confronted with questions. Instead of answering my
questions and charges, you've chosen the easy way out by not even
publishing even a single comment by one. This is not new to me, I have
seen many blogger doing the same kind of damage control."“And I took my time and wrote a lengthy post in your blog
rebutting your points, only to see it not published. Well done on damage control,
Ms Fari.”

You have clearly not understood the concept of ‘personal blogging’. This is MY
personal blog. It’s a monopoly. I rule my page. I get to put what I want on it.
You brought nothing constructive to this attack. Yes attack; I cannot call this
an argument or discussion. I did not publish your comments because, you sir,
are a jerk with the maturity of a lollipop. Your tone was extremely
disrespectful and condescending. I did not see the need to subject anyone else
to your nastiness, though you obviously have done this on other blogs. If you look back to the blog, you will see I have published
a few comments from people who did disagree with me, because they were not
disrespectful. And quite frankly, I may have been doing you a favor by not
publishing your comments. I saved you from showing the world what an unapologetic
rude bigot you really are. But you pushed me and so here we are.

2. "The thing is nowadays, there a lot of yoga instructors out there who
are completely ignorant of the Yoga philosophy. Certified to teach asanas, and
soon they start to call themselves as Yogis and Yoginis! The goal of Yoga
philosophy is to achieve mukti, liberation through the means of self –
realization. Are you aware of this, Ms Farida Hamza? "

"Unfortunately, most of the Yoga studios are runned only to give out
certs and making money. The supreme goal of the Yoga practices is
completely ignored for the sake fame and materialistic gain."

You are right! Which is precisely why right after reading your comments, I went
and did some asanas. While doing them, I asked Allah to give me strength to put
up with uncouth jerks like you. I then called myself a yogin and then decided that
the way to achieve mukti or liberation was to let you stew in your hate while I
carried on with my day, because you see, you don’t affect me. Is that self-realized
enough for you?
And your accusation of me bastardizing yoga for material gain is a joke.
Seriously I sit here laughing, if only you knew how little I make from yoga
compared to what I could from a 'regular' job. And despite that, I do it, and
you know why? Cos I love it. Try and stop me.

3.“You boastfully call yourself a Yogi with little or poor understanding of
Yogic philosophy and you even have the courage to call me " irate
yogi" ? : ) Thank you for that... : )”

(The ‘irate yogi’ is in reference to a comment I made to
another post)

You obviously have a poor grasp on the concept of bravery. Being brave is
following your heart even when the whole world tells you that you are wrong.
Being brave is standing up for the truth no matter what. Being brave is also
having the courage to acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, you don’t know everything. Being brave
is being humble enough to have honest conversations with other people. So you
give me too much credit calling me brave for calling you an "irate
yogi". I could have called you that while I sat farting on my couch.
Though you may have a point, I should have simply called you an ‘irate jerk’.
You sir, are no student of yoga. Your welcome!! :))

4. You sent me 15 emails ranting about my lack of understanding of yogic
philosophy, how, if I have trouble with the Hindu aspects I am better off not practicing
yoga, criticism regarding my feelings of being in temples blah blah. Here is my
blanket answer to all of that. I am putting down one or two things that are
particularly ignorant.

Some excerpts:
On my personal belief that everyone gets to go to Heaven, Muslim or otherwise,
you said,“This is one fine example of hypocritical statements by Muslims. You
believe that everyone has a chance to go to heaven..? Really? On what basis is
this “belief” of yours is laid upon? Your own assumption? The religious book of
yours? Mantra chanting are part and parcel of Yoga philosophy, only insecure
stupid people will fell offended by mantra chanting.”
If you cant or feel offended to chant the Sanskrit Mantras, then the best thing
to do is drop the intention of learning Yoga all together.”
“Have you ever wondered why practicing and teaching Yoga is considered
blasphemous by Muslims in the first place?”
“This is article is full of misleading statement and completely naive.”

You accuse me of being all preachy. But where have I said that I am perfect? If
anything I am the complete anti thesis of perfection. I have my own demons just
like anyone else. You are upset I focus on asana. Well, maybe that’s the stage
I am at in my journey to finding peace. I have never said that only asana is yoga.
You don’t know how I feel when I am practicing an asana, you don’t know my
history and what peace yoga brings me. When I am ready to move on to the next
step, asana may fall into the background but right now this is where I am. How
dare you tell me how I should be practicing yoga, my idea of yoga, my way of yoga?
I never claimed to be an expert or to have all the answers. I’m still figuring
things out.
You then go on to tell me that if you walk to your local masjid/mosque, the
priest/mullah/ustad will call your faith demonic. What have I or this article
got to do with them?? And more importantly what makes you think that I
believe what they believe? Again, you do not know me or my history. You have no
idea how I feel about other religions and so your compartmentalizing all
Muslims shows me that the only thing you are well versed in, is the Art of Bigotry. But not to worry, you have company. Most Ustads and Mullahs disapprove
of me just like you do. Do you think you, these mullahs or anyone else
will stop me or anyone else from chanting 'Allah', 'Jesus' or 'Yoda' when I sit
in Padmasana? Go on, try me.

You ask, "does this make them 'true Muslims’ or not?”
I wouldn’t know. It is not for me to judge them. You go on and on about Muslim
parents that disapprove of their kids practicing yoga. Again, what have I got
to do with them? No one appointed me spokesperson for Muslims the world over.
Just like I am sure, no one appointed you Defender of Yoga or Hinduism.

Do I believe Gandhi will go to hell because he is Hindu? Or that Mandela will
go to hell because he is Christian? Or that some of my best friends who I love
and adore and who stood by me through everything will go to hell simply because
they are not Muslim? And that Osama Bin Laden who killed thousands will go to
Heaven because he is Muslim?
No. I do not believe any of that. Just like I don’t believe anyone deserves to
go to hell for being who they were born to be. I believe that our intentions
and actions will decide these things. And the truth of the matter is in the
end, it does not matter what I think. This is my opinion. If we should get all
Islamic, then I say to you, that Allah decides who goes to heaven and hell. It
is not for me to judge or decide. Just like it is not for you to judge and
decide.

5. On my view about how Zakat and Seva are similar:"Total ignorance here. Zakat and Seva are totally different . It is dumb
to equate both of these. Seva is selfless service expecting nothing in return,
no promise of heaven & paradise or happy hour in utopian land. Nobody is
going to be damned here or at the afterlife if she or he fails to perform seva.
Qoute from Wikipedia: One must give zakat for the sake of one's salvation. Non
Muslims are not required to pay zakat, but give a tax by a different name
called Jizyah tax. While those who give zakat can expect reward from God in the
afterlife, neglecting to give zakat can result in damnation. The giving of the
zakat is considered a means of purifying one's wealth and soul"

I gave this comment a spot all by itself because it is astonishingly idiotic.
Actually I should not call you that because you put idiots everywhere to shame.
Your basis for this argument is Wikipedia?? Where anyone can go and put
anything? Did you turn around and ask a Muslim who may have been int he same room? or those Ustads and Mullahs who live down your street??
You are right in that Zakat is monetary but what is the point of Zakat? To remind you that you have a civic responsibility to society. You
'serve' the less fortunate, if you are able to 'serve' you do it. Last I checked, seva or service meant the
same thing. I was attempting to bridge two concepts, Islam constantly talks about serving others. It is a person like you who will always draw the line between people
and not find ways to embrace everyone. Whether you like it or not, we
are all one.
To lightly
touch on your point about greedy yoga teachers, I earn so little
that I am exempt from giving zakat.

And the Jizyah tax you talk about is probably the most
idiotic of all your comments. The jizyah was something imposed by tribes during
the time of the Prophet, around 622 A.D. And the last time it was imposed may
have been during the time of the Mughals, the 11th Century. But today, who
imposes Jizyah? What does that tell you about being all inclusive and progressive?
Do you think it was very wise to use such an outdated idea as a basis for your
argument? Your anger obviously clouds your judgment.

What I hoped to show in my piece was
that we have become too influenced by rhetoric. All religions in the end ask us
to love and respect each other. You do what is fair, what is honest and right,
and everything else falls into place. I want us to think for ourselves,
to question, to be curious. That is how it used to be. In the olden days,
religious scholars visited each other, exchanged ideas, had real meaningful
conversations and respected each other’s faith.
And since you are a stickler
for facts, look up Abu Rayhan Al Biruni, an extremely well known Muslim scholar
and astronomer who traveled through India and translated the Yoga Sutras in the
11th century. It was later found in the 1920’s in Istanbul. Why would he do
this? Could it be, he thought to himself, 'hey this is good stuff and I
need to take this to my people so that we can broaden our minds and live more
intelligent, meaningful lives’? Lucky you, Wikipedia has an entry on him.

6. “Despite with all your airy-fairy tale with GOD IS LOVE mantra, there simply
isn't any place for hypocrites like in you in the Yogic family..
I do not see any point exchanging thoughts where is no satya in someone's heart
and conduct.
Good luck in your self proclaimed utopian Yogic world.”

Thank you!! It is not lonely here in my airy-fairy utopian world. So many tolerant loving
people here with me. And you are wrong. There is no place for Haters like you in the Yogic family.

Before I conclude, here is an observation and it is not a new one at all. Hurt
people hurt people. I firmly believe that emotionally mature people would not
spend their time sending angry emails. If you had come to me from an honest
place, with respect and genuine curiosity, I would have tried to answer all
your questions. We could have had a real conversation. But all you did was
taunt, condescend and be a complete jerk. I was not interested in feeding
your anger or hate.

You must know, that after my initial annoyance, what I felt
for you was genuine compassion. You sound angry. So angry. Why? Who am I to affect
you this way? I am a complete nobody living my life, you have the option to
thousands of blogs, yet you keep coming back to mine and commenting.
Why? Why are you punishing yourself by reading a blog that pisses you off?
Don’t you think you need to be asking deeper questions? Like, what is it about
me that pisses you off so? What is upsetting you so? If you feel I have
bastardized yoga why not do something constructive with this emotion? Why not
build something useful instead of focusing your anger on tearing me down?

And that Sir, is about as much as I have to say on this matter. I have given
you more time than you deserve. Putting my anger aside, you should know, I am
still open to a meaningful and respectful conversation. I am not interested in
debate and rhetoric. I encourage you to please explore the world outside your
prejudiced notions. Read more than Google and Wikipedia. Speak to scholars, ask
questions and practice humility. You will find all your answers once you drop
this cloak of rage and judgment. There is a life for you without negativity and
insecurities, I promise. I am not interested in investing any more of my time
in negativity.
But I can’t help but feel for you. A person with peace in
his heart would not take the time to sit down and write so many comments. In
order to do this, you must have a lot of negativity in your life. Try love for
a change and you will be astonished at how much of it will come back to you.
Try compassion for a change and witness how your entire being will surge with
love and light. I didn’t mind this exchange one bit. We all have something to
teach each other and even you, you bitter man, have shown me that what I am
doing is exactly what I need to be doing. Reading your comments, there is an
even more urgent need to get the word out. The only way to mukti for me is to
keep living my authentic life and to spend my energy on the people who believe
in me. I bear no animosity towards you because every experience has made me the
person I am. Including your 15 messages.

About Me

Hi!
I am a yogi living in Shreveport, LA. I love all things yoga and find yoga in all things. I am not sure what the destination is, but know I am on the right path. Hope you enjoy my blog. You can also find me on facebook at Yogi Fari.
Namaste.